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Publications and source records attributed to A. Lähteenmäki.
The high-frequency peaked blazars and known TeV emitters 1ES 1011+496, Mrk 180 and 1ES 2344+514 have been observed in the course of multi-wavelength campaigns in 2008, covering the frequency bands from radio up to TeV energies. For all three sources, these coordinated observations represent the first of their kind. We will present and discuss the campaigns, resulting light curves and spectral energy distributions.
Simultaneous multi-wavelength (MW) campaigns are the most promising approaches to investigate the still unrevealed nature of blazars, active galactic nuclei which are variable on all time scales from radio to TeV energies. In 2008, two MW campaigns on the high-frequency peaked blazars Mrk 180 and 1ES 2344+514 have been organised by the MAGIC collaboration. From radio to TeV gamma rays, RATAN-600, Metsähovi, Effelsberg, VLBA (only 1ES 2344+514), IRAM, KVA, Swift, AGILE, Fermi-LAT and MAGIC-I were taking part in these campaigns. Mrk 180 had just been discovered at TeV energies by MAGIC in 2006, whereas 1ES 2344+514 is a known TeV emitter since many years. Due to their rather faint emission particularly at TeV energies, the campaigns represented quite challenging observations. In fact, Mrk 180 has not been investigated until now in MW campaigns, and for 1ES 2344+514 only one campaign including TeV measurements has been reported in literature up to now. In this contribution, we will present detailed MW light curves for both sources and describe the composite wide range spectral energy distributions by theoretical models.
Although the Fermi mission has increased our knowledge of gamma-ray AGN, many questions remain, such as the site of gamma-ray production, the emission mechanism, and the factors that govern the strength of the emission. Using data from a high radio band, 37 GHz, uncontaminated by other radiation components besides the jet emission, we study these questions with averaged flux densities over the the first year of Fermi operations. We look for possible correlations between the 100 MeV - 100 GeV band used by the Fermi satellite and 37 GHz radio band observed at the Aalto University Metsahovi Radio Telescope, as well as for differences between the gamma-ray emission of different AGN subsamples. We use data averaged over the 1FGL period. Our sample includes 249 northern AGN, including a complete sample of 68 northern AGN with a measured average flux density exceeding 1 Jy. We find significant correlation between both the flux densities and luminosities in gamma and radio bands. The Fermi luminosity is inversely correlated with the peak frequency of the synchrotron component of the AGN spectral energy distributions. We also calculate the gamma dominances, defined as the ratio between the gamma and radio flux densities, and find an indication that high-energy blazars are more gamma-dominated than low-energy blazars. After studying the distributions of gamma and radio luminosities, it is clear that BL Lacertae objects are different from quasars, with significantly lower luminosities. It is unclear whether this is an intrinsic difference, an effect of variable relativistic boosting across the synchrotron peak frequency range, or the result of Fermi being more sensitive to hard spectrum sources like BL Lacertae objects. Our results suggest that the gamma radiation is produced co-spatially with the 37 GHz emission, i.e., in the jet.
We present first results on PLCK G266.6-27.3, a galaxy cluster candidate detected at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 in the Planck All Sky survey. An XMM-Newton validation observation has allowed us to confirm that the candidate is a bona fide galaxy cluster. With these X-ray data we measure an accurate redshift, z = 0.94 +/- 0.02, and estimate the cluster mass to be M_500 = (7.8 +/- 0.8)e+14 solar masses. PLCK G266.6-27.3 is an exceptional system: its luminosity of L_X(0.5-2.0 keV)=(1.4 +/- 0.05)e+45 erg/s, equals that of the two most luminous known clusters in the z > 0.5 universe, and it is one of the most massive clusters at z~1. Moreover, unlike the majority of high-redshift clusters, PLCK G266.6-27.3 appears to be highly relaxed. This observation confirms Planck's capability of detecting high-redshift, high-mass clusters, and opens the way to the systematic study of population evolution in the exponential tail of the mass function.
We present multiwavelength observations of 3C 454.3 from April 2008 to March 2010. The radio to optical data are mostly from the GASP-WEBT, UV and X-ray data from Swift, and gamma-ray data from the AGILE and Fermi satellites. We improved the calibration of optical-UV data from the UVOT and OM instruments and estimated the Lyalpha flux to disentangle the contributions from different components in this spectral region. The observations reveal prominent variability above 8 GHz. In the optical-UV band, the variability amplitude decreases with increasing frequency due to a steadier radiation from both a broad line region and an accretion disc. The optical flux reaches nearly the same levels in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 observing seasons; the mm one shows similar behaviour, whereas the gamma and X-ray flux levels rise in the second period. Two prominent gamma-ray flares in mid 2008 and late 2009 show a double-peaked structure, with a variable gamma/optical flux ratio. The X-ray flux variations seem to follow the gamma-ray and optical ones by about 0.5 and 1 d, respectively. We interpret the multifrequency behaviour in terms of an inhomogeneous curved jet, where synchrotron radiation of increasing wavelength is produced in progressively outer and wider jet regions, which can change their orientation in time. In particular, we assume that the long-term variability is due to this geometrical effect. By combining the optical and mm light curves to fit the gamma and X-ray ones, we find that the gamma (X-ray) emission may be explained by inverse-Comptonisation of synchrotron optical (IR) photons by their parent relativistic electrons (SSC process). A slight, variable misalignment between the synchrotron and Comptonisation zones would explain the increased gamma and X-ray flux levels in 2009-2010, as well as the change in the gamma/optical flux ratio during the outbursts peaks.
Context: The blazar CTA 102 (z=1.037) underwent a historical radio outburst in April 2006. This event offered a unique chance to study the physical properties of the jet. Aims: We used multifrequency radio and mm observations to analyze the evolution of the spectral parameters during the flare as a test of the shock-in-jet model under these extreme conditions. Methods: For the analysis of the flare we took into account that the flaring spectrum is superimposed on a quiescent spectrum. We reconstructed the latter from archival data and fitted a synchrotron self-absorbed distribution of emission. The uncertainties of the derived spectral parameters were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. The spectral evolution is modeled by the shock-in-jet model, and the derived results are discussed in the context of a geometrical model (varying viewing angle) and shock-shock interaction. Results: The evolution of the flare in the turnover frequency-turnover flux density plane shows a double peak structure. The nature of this evolution is dicussed in the frame of shock-in-jet models. We discard the generation of the double peak structure in the turnover frequency-turnover flux density plane purely based on geometrical changes (variation of the Doppler factor). The detailed modeling of the spectral evolution favors a shock-shock interaction as a possible physical mechanism behind the deviations from the standard shock-in-jet model.
The data reported in Planck's Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) are exploited to measure the number counts (dN/dS) of extragalactic radio sources at 30, 44, 70, 100, 143 and 217 GHz. Due to the full-sky nature of the catalogue, this measurement extends to the rarest and brightest sources in the sky. At lower frequencies (30, 44, and 70 GHz) our counts are in very good agreement with estimates based on WMAP data, being somewhat deeper at 30 and 70 GHz, and somewhat shallower at 44 GHz. Planck's source counts at 143 and 217 GHz join smoothly with the fainter ones provided by the SPT and ACT surveys over small fractions of the sky. An analysis of source spectra, exploiting Planck's uniquely broad spectral coverage, finds clear evidence of a steepening of the mean spectral index above about 70 GHz. This implies that, at these frequencies, the contamination of the CMB power spectrum by radio sources below the detection limit is significantly lower than previously estimated.
The all-sky coverage of the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) provides an unsurpassed survey of galaxies at submillimetre (submm) wavelengths, representing a major improvement in the numbers of galaxies detected, as well as the range of far-IR/submm wavelengths over which they have been observed. We here present the first results on the properties of nearby galaxies using these data. We match the ERCSC catalogue to IRAS-detected galaxies in the Imperial IRAS Faint Source Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz), so that we can measure the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these objects from 60 to 850 microns. This produces a list of 1717 galaxies with reliable associations between Planck and IRAS, from which we select a subset of 468 for SED studies, namely those with strong detections in the three highest frequency Planck bands and no evidence of cirrus contamination. The SEDs are fitted using parametric dust models to determine the range of dust temperatures and emissivities. We find evidence for colder dust than has previously been found in external galaxies, with T<20K. Such cold temperatures are found using both the standard single temperature dust model with variable emissivity beta, or a two dust temperature model with beta fixed at 2. We also compare our results to studies of distant submm galaxies (SMGs) which have been claimed to contain cooler dust than their local counterparts. We find that including our sample of 468 galaxies significantly reduces the distinction between the two populations. Fits to SEDs of selected objects using more sophisticated templates derived from radiative transfer models confirm the presence of the colder dust found through parameteric fitting. We thus conclude that cold (T<20K) dust is a significant and largely unexplored component of many nearby galaxies.
The integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud appear significantly flatter than expected from dust models based on their FIR and radio emission. The origin of this millimetre excess is still unexplained, and is here investigated using the Planck data. The background CMB contribution is subtracted using an ILC method performed locally around the galaxies. The foreground emission from the Milky Way is subtracted. After subtraction, the emission of both galaxies correlates closely with the gas emission of the LMC and SMC. The millimetre excess in the LMC can be explained by CMB fluctuations, but a significant excess is still present in the SMC SED. The Planck and IRIS data at 100 micron are combined to produce thermal dust temperature and optical depth maps of the two galaxies. The LMC temperature map shows the presence of a warm inner arm already found with the Spitzer data, but also shows the existence of a previously unidentified cold outer arm. Several cold regions are found along this arm, some of which are associated with known molecular clouds. The average emissivity spectral index is found to be consistent with beta=1.5 and beta=1.2 below 500 microns for the LMC and SMC respectively, significantly flatter than the values observed in the Milky Way. Furthermore, there is evidence in the SMC for a further flattening of the SED in the sub-mm. The spatial distribution of the millimetre dust excess in the SMC follows the gas and thermal dust distribution. Different models are explored in order to fit the dust emission in the SMC. It is concluded that the millimetre excess is unlikely to be caused by very cold dust emission and that it could be due to a combination of spinning dust. emission and thermal dust emission by more amorphous dust grains than those present in our Galaxy.
The GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) monitored BL Lacertae in 2008-2009 at radio, near-IR, and optical frequencies. During this period, high-energy observations were performed by XMM-Newton, Swift, and Fermi. We analyse these data with particular attention to the calibration of Swift UV data, and apply a helical jet model to interpret the source broad-band variability. The GASP-WEBT observations show an optical flare in 2008 February-March, and oscillations of several tenths of mag on a few-day time scale afterwards. The radio flux is only mildly variable. The UV data from both XMM-Newton and Swift seem to confirm a UV excess that is likely caused by thermal emission from the accretion disc. The X-ray data from XMM-Newton indicate a strongly concave spectrum, as well as moderate flux variability on an hour time scale. The Swift X-ray data reveal fast (interday) flux changes, not correlated with those observed at lower energies. We compare the spectral energy distribution (SED) corresponding to the 2008 low-brightness state, which was characterised by a synchrotron dominance, to the 1997 outburst state, where the inverse-Compton emission was prevailing. A fit with an inhomogeneous helical jet model suggests that two synchrotron components are at work with their self inverse-Compton emission. Most likely, they represent the radiation from two distinct emitting regions in the jet. We show that the difference between the source SEDs in 2008 and 1997 can be explained in terms of pure geometrical variations. The outburst state occurred when the jet-emitting regions were better aligned with the line of sight, producing an increase of the Doppler beaming factor. Our analysis demonstrates that the jet geometry can play an extremely important role in the BL Lacertae flux and spectral variability.
This paper provides an overview of the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) programme within the ESA Planck mission. The LFI instrument has been developed to produce high precision maps of the microwave sky at frequencies in the range 27-77 GHz, below the peak of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation spectrum. The scientific goals are described, ranging from fundamental cosmology to Galactic and extragalactic astrophysics. The instrument design and development are outlined, together with the model philosophy and testing strategy. The instrument is presented in the context of the Planck mission. The LFI approach to ground and inflight calibration is described. We also describe the LFI ground segment. We present the results of a number of tests demonstrating the capability of the LFI data processing centre (DPC) to properly reduce and analyse LFI flight data, from telemetry information to calibrated and cleaned time ordered data, sky maps at each frequency (in temperature and polarization), component emission maps (CMB and diffuse foregrounds), catalogs for various classes of sources (the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue and the Final Compact Source Catalogue). The organization of the LFI consortium is briefly presented as well as the role of the core team in data analysis and scientific exploitation. All tests carried out on the LFI flight model demonstrate the excellent performance of the instrument and its various subunits. The data analysis pipeline has been tested and its main steps verified. In the first three months after launch, the commissioning, calibration, performance, and verification phases will be completed, after which Planck will begin its operational life, in which LFI will have an integral part.
We have calculated variability Doppler boosting factors, Lorentz factors, and viewing angles for a large sample of sources by using total flux density observations at 22 and 37 GHz and VLBI data. We decomposed the flux curves into exponential flares and determined the variability brightness temperatures of the fastest flares. By assuming the same intrinsic brightness temperature for each source, we calculated the Doppler boosting factors for 87 sources. In addition we used new apparent jet speed data to calculate the Lorentz factors and viewing angles for 67 sources. We find that all quasars in our sample are Doppler-boosted and that the Doppler boosting factors of BL Lacertae objects are lower than of quasars. The new Lorentz factors are about twice as high as in earlier studies, which is mainly due to higher apparent speeds in our analyses. The jets of BL Lacertae objects are slower than of quasars. There are some extreme sources with very high derived Lorentz factors of the order of a hundred. These high Lorentz factors could be real. It is also possible that the sources exhibit such rapid flares that the fast variations have remained undetected in monitoring programmes, or else the sources have a complicated jet structure that is not amenable to our simple analysis. Almost all the sources are seen in a small viewing angle of less than 20 degrees. Our results follow the predictions of basic unification schemes for AGN.
A large number of AGN have been monitored for nearly 30 years at 22, 37 and 87 GHz in Metsähovi Radio Observatory. These data were combined with lower frequency 4.8, 8.0 and 14.5 GHz data from the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory, higher frequency data at 90 and 230 GHz from SEST, and supplementary higher frequency data from the literature to study the long-term variability of a large sample of AGN. Both the characteristics of individual flares from visual inspection and statistically-determined variability timescales as a function of frequency and optical class type were determined. Based on past behaviour, predictions of sources expected to exhibit large flares in 2008--2009 appropriate for study by GLAST and other instruments are made. The need for long-term data for properly understanding source behaviour is emphasised.
We present an update of 3C 273's database hosted by the ISDC, completed with data from radio to gamma-ray observations over the last 10 years. We use this large data set to study the multiwavelength properties of this quasar,especially focussing on its variability behaviour. We study the amplitude of the variations and the maximum variability time scales across the broad-band spectrum and correlate the light curves in different bands, specifically with the X-rays, to search for possible connections between the emission at different energies. 3C 273 shows variability at all frequencies, with amplitudes and time scales strongly depending on the energy and being the signatures of the different emission mechanisms. The variability properties of the X-ray band imply the presence of either two separate components (possibly a Seyfert-like and a blazar-like) or at least two parameters with distinct timing properties to account for the X-ray emission below and above ~20 keV. The dominant hard X-ray emission is most probably not due to electrons accelerated by the shock waves in the jet as their variability does not correlate with the flaring millimeter emission, but seems to be associated to long-timescale variations in the optical. This optical component is consistent with being optically thin synchrotron radiation from the base of the jet and the hard X-rays would be produced through inverse Compton processes (SSC and/or EC) by the same electron population. We show evidence that this synchrotron component extends from the optical to the near-infrared domain, where it is blended by emission of heated dust that we find to be located within about 1 light-year from the ultraviolet source.
We report the results of a multi-wavelength campaign on the blazar Mrk 421 during outburst. We observed four strong flares at X-ray energies that were not seen at other wavelengths (partially because of missing data). From the fastest rise in the X-rays, an upper limit could be derived on the extension of the emission region. A time lag between high-energy and low-energy X-rays was observed, which allowed an estimation of the magnetic-field strength. The spectral analysis of the X-rays revealed a slight spectral hardening of the low-energy (3 - 43 keV) spectral index. The hardness-ratio analysis of the Swift-XRT (0.2 - 10 keV) data indicated a small correlation with the intensity; i. e., a hard-to-soft evolution was observed. At the energies of IBIS/ISGRI (20 - 150 keV), such correlations are less obvious. A multiwavelength spectrum was composed and the X-ray and bolometric luminosities are calculated.
We present 37 GHz data obtained at Metsahovi Radio Observatory in 2001 December - 2005 April for a large sample of BL Lacertae objects. We also report the mean variability indices and radio spectral indices in frequency intervals 5 - 37 GHz and 37 - 90 GHz. Approximately 34 % of the sample was detected at 37 GHz, 136 BL Lacertae objects in all. A large majority of the detected sources were low-energy BL Lacs (LBLs). The variability index values of the sample were diverse, the mean fractional variability of the sample being ΔS_2 = 0.31. The spectral indices also varied widely, but the average radio spectrum of the sample sources is flat. Our observations show that many of the high-energy BL Lacs (HBL), which are usually considered radio-quiet, can at times be detected at 37 GHz.